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Abstract
AbstractBiodiversity conservation requires understanding how disturbance influences biodiversity patterns at multiple spatial scales. Because the total diversity of species within a given region (γ diversity) is influenced by both local diversity (α diversity) and dissimilarity in community composition (β diversity), understanding disturbance effects on both components of diversity is essential, especially if disturbance impacts α and β diversities differently. In this three‐year study, we examined how a disturbance (annual harvesting of grasslands) and environmental gradients in the proportion of sand locally, habitat size, and landscape diversity influenced the abundance and α and β diversities of ants within tallgrass prairie habitat in Wisconsin. We used a null‐model approach to examine how harvest and environmental factors influence β diversity. Following three years of treatments, we found that ant abundance was greater in harvested sites compared to control sites and ant abundance was positively correlated with soil sandiness. We also found that α diversity was lower in harvested sites compared to control sites and none of the measured environmental gradients influenced α diversity. The effects of harvest on α‐diversity patterns may have been mediated through the competitive interactions of the two dominant ant species (Formica montana and Lasius neoniger). In contrast, β diversity (after adjusting for random effects and changes to α diversity) was higher in harvest sites compared to control sites, and variability in community composition was largely driven by the occurrence of rare species. The proportion of sand in the local habitat and habitat size positively influenced β diversity suggesting that community dissimilarity was due in part to environmental filtering and the size of species pools. Because biomass harvest had contrasting effects on ant α and β diversities, trade‐offs in maintaining α vs. β diversity might need to be considered in land management and conservation efforts.
Highlights
Biodiversity conservation requires an understanding of how disturbance influences biodiversity at multiple spatial scales
We found that bdevdiversity was affected by the proportion of sand and habitat size suggesting that community assembly was due to environmental filtering and species pool
Greater a diversity in the control sites came at the cost of b diversity loss which may be favored if land managers prefer homogeneous habitats for management or aesthetic reasons
Summary
Biodiversity conservation requires an understanding of how disturbance influences biodiversity at multiple spatial scales. Evaluating disturbance effects on both components of diversity can provide complementary information about community assembly processes and better inform conservation strategies (Karp et al 2012, Arnan et al 2015) Both a and b diversities are affected by processes that play out across different spatial scales. Local processes, such as competition and predation, and environmental filtering can structure ecological communities but processes occurring across larger spatial scales such as dispersal from a regional species pool can influence diversity as well Disturbance can influence these processes to affect a and b diversities by affecting environmental heterogeneity both within and among sites (Clough et al 2007). Trade-offs between maintaining a and b diversities might need to be considered in conservation and management efforts
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